Liverpool: Liverpool are inching towards a first English league title in 29 years but manager Jurgen Klopp says his team must enjoy the journey with supporters and not focus solely on the “Holy Grail” of winning the Premier League crown.
Liverpool’s 2-0 victory at Cardiff City on Sunday restored their two-point lead over champions Manchester City, who have played a game less.
“If you are only motivated to win the Holy Grail, then something is wrong with you,” Klopp told reporters.
“We want to win football games because we enjoy the ride with the fans. In the end, we will see how many points we have and then we get what we get.”
City can leapfrog Liverpool with a victory over Manchester United on Wednesday before Klopp’s team take on relegated Huddersfield Town two days later.
“Some people up in Liverpool might ask us if we’re thinking about Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals. We’ll be completely focused on Huddersfield,” said Klopp.
United’s players, meanwhile, are well aware of the importance of the league clash against champions Manchester City and need no extra motivation after a 4-0 hammering at Everton, defender Ashley Young said.
Sixth-placed United’s chances of finishing in the top four were dealt a blow at Goodison Park and the nature of Sunday’s defeat prompted manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to issue an apology to fans ahead of the clash with their city rivals.
“We know how important that (derby) is going to be. If you can’t get yourselves up for the Manchester derby, there’s something wrong,” Young told the club’s website.
“I’ve got confidence that we’re going to be ready for Wednesday ... we’ve got to dust ourselves down fairly quickly and go again this week ... we’ve got four games left, we’ve got four wins to get. It’s going to be tough but I’m sure we can do it.”
United, who have 64 points from 34 games and sit two points adrift of Arsenal in fourth, face Chelsea, Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City in their final three matches of the season.
